i 



.W57 R4 










lilillill 




Slip , 

m 











0^ CO-..V ^^*V. 







^ * O « ' -^ 







. " 'e^ ^^ ' /^^^/ko '% <,^ •^^n^'. '^^ A^ ■ *: 






^0^S• 










>0 




'^ o 




^^0^ 




















,-^q. 



v^ 






y\'^:^-S. >°'.^;:.°- .//>^j,/., , 








'>>o^ 







'bV 












^-.9^' 






v-^^ 
.s^"- 






^* ^^ '^^ •-''>^i5*.- . '^^ "^ -: 











'oK 




V^O^ 



.•^°Xv 




'bV 



^'^'^^^^^-•'"^O' 




VAO' 



4 o 

















"-^^"tt \/ -:^': %.^" -^sc^^ \/ • 



.S^^o,. 






^^ 









^^^ 






,H o 



l»5ri 12« 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 



DELIVERED AT THE 



TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 



West Lebanon Congregational Church and Society, 



NOVEMBER 8, 1874. 



BY A. B. RICH, PASTOR, 
tt 



PUBLISHED liY THE SOCIETY. 



CONCORD, N. H. : 

PRINTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION. 
1874. 



F4-4- 



-^i s'\A?r 



-i- 3 



SERMON. 



1 SA31UEL VII : 11, 12. 

"And thk men of Iskael wknt out of MizrEii, and pui!SUKd 
TiiK Philistines, and smote tuem, until they came under 
Betii-cau. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between 

MiZPKH AND ShEN, AND CALLED THE NAME OF IT El$l.N-EZER, 

SAYING, Hitherto hath the Lord helped rs." 

It would be both iinphilosopbical and superficial, in 
giving the natural history of a choice fruit-tree, to 
speak only of its height and size, the form it has as- 
sumed in the progress of its growth, and the charac- 
teristics of its fruit. We wish to know, as well, where 
it originated, and by whose culture it has been brought 
to its present state of perfection. We trace the vari- 
ety back to the nursery of some distinguished pomol- 
ogist, learn the circumstances under which it came 
into notice, the different names by which it has been 
known, the care and culture that have been expended 
upon it to bring it to the present state of perfection. 
And we come to estimate the value of our particular 
tree, not simply by the annual supply of delicious 



fruit it bears, but by the circumstances of its origina- 
tion, and the labors of other hands that have trans- 
planted, pruned, and guarded it, before it had a place 
in our orchard. Let these things be an allegory. 

The church of Jesus Christ on earth has a history : 
and each particular local church stands in spiritual 
relations with it. It has not an independent history. 
It has a germinal relation with some church or 
churches that preceded it. The life that had been 
begotten in human hearts by the Divine Spirit under 
other relations, is having a new development under 
new relations. There is a sense in which the local 
church is new, a higher sense in which it is old — as 
old, indeed, as the establishment of a church on earth, 
as the idea of a church in the mind of its head. Each 
local church, therefore, has a history that runs back 
of the date of its origin, as found in its records, — a 
hidden history, like the roots of a tree that run under 
ground, a part of the tree, as truly as the trunk, but 
out of sight. 

In proposing to write out the history of this church, 
I cannot resist the temptation to go back of Nov. 8, 
1849 — back even of the organization of the parent 
church — to the influences that moulded the characters 
of the original settlers of this town. So far, at least, 
we can easily trace the roots of the tree that has been 
growing here on the banks of the Connecticut for the 
last quarter of a century. 



Our thoughts are turned to '•' tlie hind of steady 
habits" — to the interior of Connecticut ; and we are 
almost surprised to find the towns of Enfield, Windsor, 
Hartford, Norwich, Lebanon, Woodstock, Meriden, 
Lyme, Bristol, Franklin, Danbury, Canaan, and An- 
dover crowded as thickly together there as they are 
in this latitude in the valley of the same " Long 
River." 

It suggests other relationships, running ])ack to 
colonial days. 

I know not why the name of Mansfield was not 
transferred to this locality, as the original settlers of 
this town were from the adjoining towns of Mansfield 
and Lebanon. The first meeting of the eighty-two 
grantees, under the charter obtained from the royal 
governor, Benning Wentworth, was held in Mansfield. 
But the majority of these jjelonging to Lebanon, they 
voted to call the town by this musical Scripture name. 
I presume their children have approved their decision. 

As to the moral and intellectual character of the 
first settlers of the town, we can judge somewhat by 
reference to the clergy luider whose ministry they 
had been educated. 

The Mansfield colonists had sat for seventeen years 
under the preaching of Rev. Richard Salter, a grad- 
uate of Harvard college. After his graduation, Mr. 
Salter studied medicine, and became "a skilful prac- 
titioner." His attention was then called to the niin- 



6 

istry, which, after a course of preparatory study, he 
entered. Declining; a call from one of the Boston 
churches, he settled in Mansfield, and remained there 
until his death — forty-one years. He was elected a 
Fellow of Yale college, and received from that insti- 
tution the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He is said 
to have been "a man of more than ordinary intel- 
lectual powers, and to have ranked, in this respect, 
among the first ministers of his day in Connecticut." 

It may be of interest to know that it was from him 
that the Rev. Richard Salter Storrs, late of Braintree, 
Mass. (the father of the distinguished divine of the 
same name in Brooklyn, N. Y.), received both his name 
and his education. 

Remembering now the reverence felt by all classes 
for the clergy a century and a quarter ago, and the 
influence they exerted upon the intellectual and 
moral status of a community, in the absence of good 
educational institutions, and we can gauge quite ac- 
curately the mental and moral traits of a Mansfield 
colony in 1761. 

The Lebanon colony was in nothing inferior, judged 
by the same standard. For twenty-six years before 
their herjira they had enjoyed the religious training 
of the Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, of whom Trumbull, a 
personal friend, says, — " His preaching and addresses 
were close and pungent, and yet winning beyond 
almost all comparison, so that his audience would 



be melted even into tears before they were aware 
of it." 

His labors were greatly promotive of revivals of 
religion. They covered the years when Whitefield 
was makino' his flvino; visits throngh New Engrland. 
Dr. Wheelock welcomed the great revivalist to his 
pulpit, and was in full sympathy with him in the great 
awakening. "So fervent was his zeal, that in one 
year 'he preached a hundred more sermons than there 
are days in the year.' " 

Several years before the colony left his congrega- 
tion to settle in this town. Dr. Wheelock commenced 
a famih^ school, to eke out his scanty salary. Ere long 
a Mohegan Indian boy, Samson Occum, became con- 
nected with the school. His subsequent conversion 
and distinguished labors as a preacher turned Dr. 
Wheelock's thoughts so much towards the Indians as 
to lead him to change the plan of his school. It grew 
at length into " Moor's Indian Charity School," taking 
its name from that of a liberal benefactor — a gener- 
ous fiirmer of Mansfield. 

Years roll by : the school is mainly composed of 
Indian children. At length, some eight years after 
the departure of the New Hampshire colony, in Au- 
gust, 1770, the venerable minister and teacher, vvith the 
charter in his hand of Dartmouth college — " vox cla- 
raantis in deserto" — followed his former parishioners 
into the wilderness, and transferred his school to Han- 



8 

over, — " he and his wife and daughters living in a log 
cabin eighteen feet square, and his sons and students 
in booths of hemlock bous^hs, until a dwellino'-house 
and college could be erected." 

Thus was renewed his acquaintance with the for- 
mer members of his parish, and his influence over 
them continued until his death. He presided over 
the college from 1770 to 1779, "and conferred thq 
honors of the college on seventy-two 3'Oung men, of 
whom thirty-nine became ministers of the gospel." 

Perhaps I am occupying too much space with the 
influences that moulded the characters and habits of 
our fathers : but how could I have said less ? 

No record has come down to us respecting the 
spiritual history of the colony during the first three 
years of its existence. No doubt there were prajang 
souls here, and closets, and family altars, in rude 
dwellino;s scattered throuii-hout the town. No doubt, 
when occasions served, they sang and prayed together, 
for they had come up from some of the most thrill- 
ing revival scenes which have been enjoyed in New 
England. 

But on the 13th of May, 1765, when, it is supposed, 
the town contained only about twenty families, meas- 
ures were taken to secure the preaching of the word. 
It is the earliest extant record of the town. 

" At y" motion of Mr. Asa Kilbourne, queryd, -vvhethor wc will have 

a minister in the town this summer or not? Voted iu the affirmative. 

"Voted, that we first send subscriptions to y'^ neighboring towns, and 



get what we cnn subscribed; and what remains wanting to supply the 
pulpit six nionths, will stand 'sponsible for; to be paid at y"" end of said 
six months." 

What success they had in raising subscriptions or 
finding a preacher does not appear. The action of 
the town, above referred to, shows an appreciation 
of the ministry of the gospel, and a willingness to 
" stand 'sponsible" for whatsoever pecuniary sacrifice it 
might involve. 

We pass three years, during which the}'^ have oc- 
casional preaching, no doubt, but no settled means of 
grace, save the reading of the word and a holy walk 
with God on the part of the devout, — and we come to 
1768, one of the most important years in the early 
history of the colony. Three events mark it as such. 

First, The town voted to build a meeting-house, 
but so scattered were the population, so difficult a 
matter was it found to be to harmonize the different 
views respecting the location, that the structure did 
not arise until 1772, four years after the vote of the 
town to build it. It was a small house, 34 by 48 feet, 
erected on the heio-ht of oround about midwav be- 
tween the cottai2:e of Richard B. Kimball and the res- 
idence of the late Luther Alden, on the south side of 
the street. 

The second interesting event of the year was a vote 
of the town to extend a call to a Mr. Wales to become 
their minister. His answer to the call was couched 
in such terms as to give great offence. They refused 



10 

to rceive him as their religious teacher, and declared 
" null and void all proceedings in relation to him." 

The next and most important item of the year was 
the organization of the first church of the town, with 
the aid and advice of the ministers of Cornish and 
Charlestown. It consisted of six members, — all of 
them men. These three events mark the year as one 
of special spiritual awakening. 

Before the erection of the house of worship, or 
about 1770, the church had secured the services of 
Mr, Isaiah Potter, a young man of promise, then about 
twenty-two years of age. His labors were very ac- 
ceptable ; and in 1772, while the meeting-house was 
being built, he was ordained and installed over the 
church as its first pastor. The services must have 
been particularly impressive. Under a wide-Spreading 
elm tree, that stood by the road-side, on the grounds 
now occupied by Mr. Thomas Eastman, a hundred 
rods or so south of this place, a stage had been erected 
on which the services were to take place. The gently 
rising ground, from the temporary pulpit to the bank 
of the stream, afforded a fine opportunity for a con- 
gregation to gather, and witness and enjoy the scene. 

It was an August day — the 25tli — a season of the 
year suitable for an out-of-door service ; that peculiar 
season when there comes the lull of nature, after the 
extreme heat of July ; and when the very atmosphere 
seems in a meditative mood, and every shrub and leaf, 



11 

having attained the acme of its growth, becomes 
thoughtful and mindful of soberer days in the near 
distance. And then how impressive the surroundings ! 
The dark bluff behind them, covered with the growth 
of centuries ; the beautiful waters of the Connecticut 
in the foreground ; nature's own Gothic around and 
above them, with the blue of heaven for a fresco. 
Sermon by the Rev. Mr, Olcott, of Charlestown. 

At the close the pastor made an address, in wdiich 
he exhorted his flock, the younger members especially, 
" to refrain from any vain amusements, dancing and 
the like, as altogether unsuitable to the occasion, 
though customary." Thus was constituted by far the 
most important pastoral relation that has existed in 
the history of this town. Mr. Potter was the pastor of 
the town, and his ministry continued forty-five years. 

The house of worship was completed and dedicated 
in the autumn. Though a small, unpretending struc- 
ture, glorious scenes were witnessed under its roof. 
Pentecostal blessings were poured out there. On the 
tenth (and, as it would appear, last) year of its occu- 
pancy, " on the 28th of April, fifty-three persons were 
received into the church, and not long after thirty- 
three more were added at one time." The church 
now numbered two hundred and four, with a popula- 
tion not exceeding five hundred. 

A dear spot that first church must have been to 
many, and yet we are told that it -svas " about 1782" — 



12 

this very year — that the place of worship was trans- 
ferred to the Aspinwall hill, one of the most elevated 
parts of the town then under cultivation. This trans- 
fer was not made without bitter strifes between the 
opposite sections of the town as to the location most 
desirable for the new structure. To end their strifes, 
or rather as their contribution to the questions in 
controversy, " a company of young men," it is said, 
"gathered in the night, and proceeded quietly to re- 
move the bone of contention, and before the morn- 
ing light the house of worship was levelled to the 
ground." This compelled the construction of a new 
house, which was built in a more central position, but 
one that obliged them all, in a literal sense, to " go up 
to the house of the Lord." 

Here, during another decade, Mr. Potter preached 
truth, and administered discipline, and held in one 
congregation all the people of the town. 

But the inhabitants increasing " on the plain" (as 
the centre of the town was styled), and in the eastern 
section, a vote was carried, on the 9th of May, 1792, 
to build another house of worship — the third house — 
at the centre, on grounds now enclosed in the present 
park. This was used both for purposes of worship 
and town purposes. In 1850 it was removed from the 
public grounds to the north side of the street. In 
1868 it passed into the hands of the town exclusively, 
and was remodelled into the present town hall. 



Ill this third house Mr. Potter continued to preach 
some twenty-five years, having outlived the two for- 
mer houses, and one third the age of the new house, 
wanting a single year. 

I cannot leave this portion of the church history 
of the town without callinu: attention to the liberal 
expenditures of the fathers in providing a house for 
the Lord. With a wise reference to the growth 
and convenience of the population, they built three 
structures under one pastorate, and in the space 
of about twenty-two years, the last of which, being 
50 by 60 feet on the ground, is said to have cost 
£1,447 5s. 

They " devised liberal things," for their age and cir- 
cumstances, and God blessed them, and prospered the 
church, and gathered into it no less than three hun- 
dred and seventy-two souls, of whom twelve became 
ministers of the gospel. 

The next page we turn in the church history of 
Lebanon, like Ezekiel's roll, is " covered with lamen- 
tations and mourning and woe." It introduces us to 
the callins: and settlement of a brilliant man to the 
pastorate ; but a man of " broad church " proclivities, 
who, if he did not sow the seeds of evil, was at least 
indisposed to root them up. He was, moreover, under 
censure for various immoralites when settled. What 
could have been expected but the divisions that fol- 
lowed, resulting in the withdraw\al of the majority of 



14 

the church from the ordinances as administered by 
Mr. Foord, and the settlement of a new pastor, after 
several years of strife — the Rev. Calvin Cutler. Dur- 
ing his ministry the town assumed the control of the 
meeting-house, and apportioned the use of it to the 
four different denominations that then existed, — the 
old church that had seceded, the adherents of Mr. 
Foord, the Universalists, and the Baptists. This state 
of things continued until 1828, wdien the church erect- 
ed the present house of worship, which was dedicated 
on the loth of August, leaving the old meeting-house 
in the hands of the other denominations and the town, 
until its transformation into the present town hall, as 
before stated. 

The church is free again. By the liberality of Dea. 
Nathaniel Porter, they are provided with a parsonage 
and some two acres of land under and adjoining. 
They have paid for their house of worship, and raised 
a fund of a thousand dollars towards the support of 
the gospel. They want a pastor. They find one, 
evidently sent them by the Lord, in the person of the 
Rev. Phineas Cooke, who ministered to them nineteen 
years, during which two hundred and thirty-three 
members were added to the church. As the fruits of 
a special work of grace in 1835, sixty-nine members 
were brought in in a single year. 

We are approaching the period when our own 
church came into being. A few words will be in place 



15 

respecting the reasons that seemed to justify the new 
organization. 

The house of worship, which was at first in this 
vicinity, by successive removals was now four miles 
from the western limits of the town. 

The valley of the Connecticut, on the New Hamp- 
shire side, was quite thickly settled from Hanover to 
Plainfield, and all the population were from four to 
five miles from church. Besides, this place had been 
chosen as the terminus of the Northern Railroad, caus- 
ing an increase of permanent and transient residents, 
settling the question of a future village on this soil, 
and bringing the population on the opposite bank of 
the Connecticut into more intimate relations with us. 
Added to these considerations, there was another that 
hastened the movement, and was, indeed, the immedi- 
ate occasion of it — the dismission of Mr. Cooke, on 
the loth of May, 1848. Nine days after the dissolu- 
tion of the council that dismissed Mr. Cooke (for the 
church agreed to submit the matter to their decision), 
there was held a meeting at the house of Oliver 
Stearns, at which ten members of the church were 
present, viz., Richard Kimball, Ebenezer Kimball, 
Henry G. Wood, John Wood, Thomas Wood, Oliver 
Stearns, Daniel Richardson, Elias H. Richardson, and 
Aruna Hall. Duly organized by the choice of Rich- 
ard Kimball as chairman, and Elias H. Richardson as 
scribe, they passed the four following votes : 



16 

*' Voted, To appoint a committee to select a site for a meeting-house, 
somewhere in West Lebanon, to be improved at some suitable time. 

'^Resolved, That we go on unitedly and support the gospel at the 
Centre as heretofore, until the times shall demand a separation from the 
church at the Centre. 

^'' Voted, The secretary be empowered to call the next meeting when 
required ; after which, 

" Voted, To adjourn without day." 

These are the first records on our church books. 
They mdicate that the estabHshment of a church and 
the erection of a house of worship in this part of the 
town was a foregone conclusion in the minds of the 
members here residing. They wait the favorable 
moment. 

The committee chosen to select a site for the meet-' 
ing-house, made choice of the location where we are 
now assembled, which was purchased of Mr. Gideon 
Dickinson. 

The land on which the parsonage stands was bought 
of Mr. Samuel S. Barrows. This house was raised in 
the following June, — Prof Haddock, of Dartmouth 
college, delivering an address and offering a prayer. 
Remarks were also made by Rev. Charles A. Downs, 
who was then stated supply of the church. 

We come now to the autumn of 1849. The house 
of worship (which cost the society about $3,500) 
is ready to be dedicated. Thirty-seven members 
of the church have applied for and received let- 
ters of dismission, with a view to the organization 
of a new church. Seven other brethren and sisters, 
from churches in Fort Covington, N. Y., Conway and 



17 

Richmond in this state, Pulaski, 111., and Lowell, Bos- 
ton, and Hadley, Mass., were confederate with them. 
All these — forty-four in number — united in calling a 
council, for the double purpose of dedicating this 
house and constituting the church. 

Council met on the 8th of November, 1849, — 
twenty-five years ago to-day. There were present 
"from the church at Dartmouth college. Rev. Jno. 
Richards, pastor, Rev. John W. Noyes, delegate, and 
Rev. Prof Haddock ; from the church in Plainfield, Rev. 
Jacob Scales, pastor, and Dea. Stephen Tracy, dele- 
gate ; from the church in Hartford, Y t.. Rev. Josiah 
Merrill, pastor, Bro. Jno. Strong, delegate ; from the 
church in Meriden, Rev. Amos Blanchard, pastor, Bro. 
C. S. Richards, delegate ; from the church in Lebanon, 
Rev. Chas. A. Downs, pastor elect, Dea. Abner Allen, 
delegate." 

The doings of the church were approved, the ar- 
ticles of fiiith and covenant were heard and com- 
mended, the council, however, recommending the ad- 
dition of two or three specifications to the former. 

The prayer of dedication was offered by the Rev. 
Jno. Richards. Prof Haddock preached the sermon. 
The moderator of the council — the Rev. Jacob Scales — 
read the articles of faith and covenant, the church as- 
senting thereto. The prayer of consecration was then 
offered by the Rev. Amos Blanchard, followed by an 
address to the church by the moderator. 



18 

It was a solemn but joyful day to the Christians of 
West Lebanon, and its events are destined to have a 
greater prominence in the annals of eternity than 
they have had in the records of time. They are pass- 
ing from the memories even of the fathers and moth- 
ers who participated in them. But let them recall 
them vividly to-day, and tell them to their children, 
that they may catch the inspiration that animated 
them, in carrying on the work which they so wisely 
initiated. Let them recount to-day the zeal and lib- 
erality and words of wisdom of that venerable man,* 
who was ninety years old the very day the church 
was constituted and the house of worship dedicated, 
but who lived more than ten years thereafter, attain- 
ing to the great age of one hundred years, one month, 
and nine days. 

But I am reminded that the history of twenty-five 
years is yet before us. I trust I have thrown so much 
light upon forthcoming scenes, by recalling the series 
of events that ushered them in, that I may be brief 
in the recital of them. 

The church lost no time in organizing. Two days 
after the adjournment of the council, Nov. 10th, it 
met in the vestry — the present gallery — chose its 
moderator and scribe, and appointed " a committee 
to wait on Mr. Samuel Craft, of Brookline, Mass., and 

* Joseph Wood, who gave $1000 to the society as a fund for the sup- 
port of the gospel. 



19 

tender to him the thanks of the church for his mak- 
ing so vahiable a present to the church, — being an 
elegant communion set, a splendid Turkey-bound 
Bible, and table-cloth." This was their first item of 
business. 

On the 2Ttli of December they chose three dea- 
cons, — Samuel Wood, Nathan B. Stearns, and David 
Richardson. In 1868 Charles H. Dana was appointed 
to the same office. All these, with the exception of 
Dea. Richardson, who left town soon after his appoint- 
ment, have " used the office of a deacon well " to the 
present time, "and purchased to themselves a good 
degree." 

There has been preserved the first notice given in 
the church respecting future services, read, no doubt, 
at the meeting of council before its adjournment. 
It is as follows : 

" The sale of slips for one yeai- io this house will take place on Sat. 
next, at one o'clock in the afternoon. 

"By the leave of Divine Providence religious services will be holden 
in this house on next Lord's day. Exercises to commence at lialf past 
ten in the morning. 

"The congregation who expect to worship at tliis place are respect- 
fully invited to remain during the first half hour of the intermission 
of next Sabbath, for the purpose of organizing a Sabbath-sciiool." 

Sabbath-school instruction was not a novelty in this 
part of the town, for the Rev. Mr. Cook had gathered 
classes for Biblical instruction. And, subsequently, 
Mrs. Eunice M. Hutchinson assembled the childien 
at her own residence, and taught them out ol' the 



20 

Scriptures. Afterwards this school was removed to 
Union hall, where it was kept up by other laborers 
until the times of which we are speaking. In the no- 
tice above referred to we have the origin of the 
church school, which has been continued until the 
present, and regarded as one of the most important 
means of religious culture enjoyed by this population. 
It has been reorganized under a new constitution dur- 
ing the past year, and now numbers about one hun- 
dred and forty members. 

Between the dedication of the church and the set- 
tlement of a pastor, services were regularly sustained 
on the Sabbath by the professors of Dartmouth col- 
lege, and ministers from abroad who were invited to 
preach as candidates for the pastorate, of whom, I am 
informed, there were not less than a score. 

On the 3d of May, 1850, it was ^^Votecl, To extend 
a call to the Rev. Lathrop Taylor, of Springfield, Vt.. 
but on account of a letter received from Mr. Taylor 
immediately after the meeting, the call was never 
sent to him. 

There is documentary evidence that a second (per- 
haps informal) call was voted to another candidate ; 
but I find no reference to it in the records. 

On the IStli of January, 1851, the Rev. Rufus Case, 
who was then supplying the pulpit at Burlington, Vt., 
reached here, by invitation from the committee of 
supply, to spend two Sabbaths with the people. The 



21 

Lord turned the hearts of all toward him as a suitable 
person to become their pastor and teacher. A unani- 
mous call was forwarded to him, on the 27th of Febru- 
ary, from the church, the society, and the pew-holders, 
each body having taken separate action. 

Mr. Case's final answer was not received until the 
following June ; but in the correspondence which 
passed meantime he says, — 

" There are several reasons which incline me to think it is duty to 
accept the invitation. An important one is the unanimity with which 
the invitation is given. I think it is rather remarkable that the people 
should be so far united in giving calls. This is the third which has 
been given unanimously, and there is reason to fear that should you 
fail now, the people may become divided.'" 

Wednesday, the 26th of June, was another red-letter 
day in the history of Lebanon, — the installation of 
Mr. Case as the first pastor of the new church, Rev. 
John Wheeler, d. d., president of the Universitj'- of 
Vermont, preaching the sermon. Thus was consti- 
tuted a pastorate that continued almost eleven years, 
that was rich in the fruits of faithful work done in 
laying foundations and building thereon. There were 
added to the church during these years seventy-six 
names, — forty-one upon profession of their ftiith, and 
thirty-five by letter. 

Mr. Case was dismissed on the 12th of March, 1802. 
The record of the council says, — " His sole reason for 
seeking dismission was ill health, the church reluct- 
antly assenting on that ground." The council " com- 



22 

mended him to the confidence and affection of all the 
churches, as a wise, faithful, and good minister of the 
gospel.* 

An interregnum of nearly eleven months followed, 
in which the pulpit was filled, as at the first, mainly 
by professors from Hanover and ministerial candidates. 
Greatly favored has this church and parish been in its 
supplies. And it must be said, to their credit, that 
they have not been made fastidious, exacting, and 
hard to please j they have not become intellectual 
epicures, like some parishes we wot of, who have 
reached a confirmed dyspepsia, that reluctates all 
wholesome food, and relishes only condiments. They 
have valued stability and a regular pastorate. 

They are praying then in this interval for a pastor. 
They are lonely without a shepherd. Did not God 
hear their prayer, and raise up for them the man just 
adapted to the times? 

On the 27th of July, 1862, at a meeting of the 
church called for the purpose, it was '• Voted, That 
the committee of the society hold correspondence 
with the Kev. John H. Edwards, relative to his future 
supplying the 'desk for an indefinite time to come." 
Mr. Edwards entered upon the work. In September 
the terms of the vote were so changed as to read '• for 
the term of six months." On the 15th of November 



* In 1867 Mr. Case settled again in Jaffrey, N. H., where he still 
resides. 



23 

following, a unanimous vote was passed to extend to 
him a call to become pastor and teacher. In his an- 
swer to the call, Mr. Edwards expresses the thoughts 
that burden the heart of every true pastor: 

" Solonm interests are committed to my charge. Blessed possibilities 
open before me. But yoii have made choice, for these high labors and 
responsibilities, of one frail and fallible like yourselves. Your labors 
must join his, your prayers must mingle in his behalf, and your sym- 
l>athy must encourage and strengthen his heart, if his work is to be 
successful." 

The services of ordination and installation occurred 
February 3, I86I8 Dr. Leeds, of Hanover, preaching 
the sermon, and Rev. Chas. A. Downs, of Lebanon, 
giving the right hand of fellowship. 

Mr. Edwards came to this parish in the ardor of his 
youth, and gave to this church the warmth of a first 
love. The council that sundered the pastoral relation 
on account of '-the health of the pastor's family," after 
nearly eight years of devoted labor, say, — Mr. Ed- 
wards was "an able, faithful, and successful minister 
of the gospel." The church was established and built 
up under his labors, by the addition of one hundred 
and eighteen members, seventy-nine by profession and 
thirty-nine by letter. Happy the servant of Ciirist 
who has such a record, and who may hope to meet in 
eternity so many "seals of his ministry."* 

It has seemed to me singular, that, after the loss of 



♦After laboring about two years in Tidioute, Penn., Mr. Edwards 
left the country for Europe, with his family, and has not yet returned. 



24 

so beloved a pastor, this people should so soon have 
united in the choice of his successor; especially that 
you should have extended another unanimous call 
from the church and society to one with whom you 
had had only a brief acquaintance, and without hav- 
ing heard other candidates. I felt, for this reason, 
that your call was the call of God; "Therefore came 
I unto you without gainsaying as soon as I was sent 
for." And so only four months and five days passed, 
after the council had dismissed the dear brother who 
preceded nie, before you entertained another council 
to review our proceedings and join our hands in the 
sacred wedlock of pastor and people. It was the 17th 
of May, 1871, — the season of the year when all na- 
ture gives promise of growth ; when foliage, flowers, 
and fruit seem to be waiting in readiness to appear, in 
quick succession, to reward the labor of the husband- 
man. We hoped these things might be a prophecy 
of speedy growth and abundant fruit in this church 
and parish. Our hopes have had only an indifferent 
realization. There have been added to us twenty- 
seven new members, strengthening our hands and 
cheering our hearts greatly. But how can we be sat- 
isfied when so many are yet without, and strangers to 
our precious Lord and Saviour ? 

A word more in reference to this council. The 
events of that day are yet fresh in our recollection. 
An able discourse was delivered by Rev. Charles R. 



9 







Palmer, of Salem, Mass. ; the late Rev. Robert South- 
gate, with words of surpassing tenderness, gave the 
right hand of fellowship (who could have believed 
that right hand was so soon to be palsied in death) ; 
the charge to me was by Rev. S. P. Leeds, u. d. ; the 
address to you by Prof. Henry E. Parker. The oc- 
casion was one of great interest to us all. I trust we 
shall never have good reason to regret its occurrence. 
The history of this church would not l)e complete 
if I did not tabulate a few of the items that indicate 
the steps of its growth and its present membership. 

Original members 44 

Since added by profession 137 

Since added by letter 109 

Total number connected with it since its organization 290 

Removed by death 44 

Removed by letter 80 

Present membership IGO 

Male members 54 

Female members 106 

Original members still living 12 

Brethren, the work assigned to me is done. But 
how can I sit down without a word of congratulation 
and exhortation ? The facts I have recited fully jus- 
tify, in all your minds, the action of the fathers in 
founding this church. The evidence is abundant that 
God has been with you, and guided your endeavors. 
I read it in the wisdom that characterized all your 
acts in withdrawing from the parent church. It was 
a delicate duty to do, and not prejudice your relations 
with your brethren at the Centre. But I find, all 



26 

along, the record of the kind offices of the parent for 
her offspring, — !he transfer to the new society of as- 
sets to the amount of $133 towards building this 
house, and the presence of the church by pastor and 
delegate in all your councils. I read it in the iman- 
imity of your action in the settlement of all your 
pastors, every call being unanimous. I read it es- 
pecially in the record of revivals which you have en- 
joyed. Two of these must have been of great powder. 
The first was under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Case, 
in 1857, a year memorable for revival influences 
throughout the land. Some of you cannot have for- 
gotten the -5th of July of that year, when thirty-four 
stood side by side in this place to enter into covenant 
with God and his people. The next special work oc- 
curred in the winter of 1865-6 ; for, during the fol- 
lowing summer, thirty were added upon profession of 
their faith. This was imder the labors of Rev. Mr. 
Edwards. I have called to mind the joys of those 
revival seasons, and am prepared to join Avith you to- 
day in the exulting word of the Jewish bard, — " The 
Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are 
glad." And I cannot withhold the inquiry, Why 
may we not enjoy again these seasons of refreshing, 
of joy transcending all other joy this side heaven ? 
You remember, brethren, the " searchings of heart," 
the healing of divisions, the pei'sonal labor with one 
another, the purifying of yourselves from all known 



sin, the new consecration of yourselves with all your 
powers to the service of God, that preceded those 
works of grace. Will you "prepare the way of the 
Lord and make his paths straight," as in former days, 
and see again the salvation of God ? It is related in 
the annals of Dartmouth college, that when Messrs. 
Temple and Goodale, of missionary celebrity, with a 
few other students, resolved " that they would every 
day talk, each with some student or other person 
whom they judged unconverted, and urge them to 
Christ," there soon occurred a season of " universal 
religious interest, and in cue week more than forty 
expressed joyfully the Christian hope, and in four 
weeks sixty students and sixty citizens were supposed 
to be converted." 

that God would come in like manner to this 
community, and this seminary, and fill all our hearts 
and homes, and all heaven, with joy ! 

In this review of the religious history of the town, 
no feature has been more conspicuous than the readi- 
ness of the fathers to make sacrifices for the promo- 
tion of the cause of Christ. When the colony num- 
bered only twenty famihes, they took measures to 
secure the preaching of the gospel. Under one pas- 
torate, to meet the growth and convenience of the 
settlement, they built three houses of worship. When 
the church was compelled, for the purity of the faith, 
to leave the house they had helped to build in other 



28 

hands, they raised the commodious structure now oc- 
cupied by the parent church, and funded a thousand 
dollars to support the gospel in the days to come. 
And when the founders of this church responded to 
the manifest call to give the gospel to all the popula- 
tion on this border of the town, they threw their free- 
will offerings together, and, finding they had raised 
between three and four thousand dollars, entered vig- 
orously upon the work of building this house. And 
the venerable patriarch, Joseph Wood (" for and in 
consideration of the love and interest I feel in the 
welfare of Christ's kingdom in the world," to quote his 
own words), gave the society $1000 "for the support 
of the gospel ministry " in all coming time. 

Thus, all along, the spirit of liberality has been 
manifested. God's people have shown that their 
property was converted as well as their hearts. They 
have called nothing of the means God had lent them 
their own, when he manifestly asked for it, to be in- 
vested in his service. The result is apparent in the 
intelligence, the morality, and the general prosperity 
of the population of the town. " Them that honor 
me I will honor," saith the Lord. 

What is the inference? That we should take up 
and carry vigorously forward the work to be done in 
this age, to give the gospel in its freshness and power 
to all this population. I hear the fxthers of three 
generations exhorting us to imitate their zeal in pro- 



29 

vidinf]^ the institutions of relici^ion for themselves, tlicir 
wise forecast in laying foundations for their children. 
I hear the Saviour say, — '• Imitate my example ! Be 
thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown 
of life." 

The steady increase of population here, the estah- 
lishment of an institution of learning here, into which 
are constantly gathered from fifty to one hundred 
youth from abroad, to be helped or hindered, while 
with us. in the formation of their moral characters, 
make the obligations of to-day vastly greater than 
those which our fathers assumed twenty-five years ago. 

While, then, we set up our stone of witness to-day, 
exclaiming, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us," 
let us gird ourselves for ivork. Are words of coun- 
sel demanded? — let them not be withheld. Are means 
wanted ? — let the tythes be brought into the house of 
the Lord. Is there needed an all-pervasive influence 
to arouse the indifferent, give courage to the timid, 
and strength to the weak ? — let all unite to create 
such an influence by word and act. Especially, let 
prayer ascend unceasingly to God that he will fidfil 
to us his promise to Jacob of old, — "I will pour my 
Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine ofl- 
spriug. One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and another 
shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another 
shall subscribe with bis hand unto the Lord, and sur- 
name himself bv the name of Israel." 



PD 18 1 



















'-^o^ 




"oV 



^°r^. 








• .V 








rl'^^^. 
















f o 



^^ ^^ *'^fe'- ^^ c,-^ *^^ 







t. ' « 



o V 






























^'% 












^ »v ^ 






'TTT* G^ 'o 'o..* /\ <v ♦TXT* .G^ "^^ 'c.T' 



OOBBSBROS. .o' .O"^ ''^ *.,,•* A■*^ O^ ' • » V^ « .0'' 

i„R*Ry BINDING ^ _ r^ ^V* ... -^-^ _^ 

ST. AUGUSTINE IJ^ ^ ' \X ' \ 4 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 065 108 4 









;^Vij4^^. 



<=^ ft; f . 






« *IV'.' (I",*. Ifi'i'rf 




l?;f^vsii'?;^ig!i^! 



